Summer has come to a close and students are back in the classroom. For five outstanding Crouse Hospital Junior Volunteers, the new academic year started with an unexpected $1,000 scholarship. Each year the hospital’s Volunteer Services Department awards scholarships to outstanding Junior Volunteers who apply. This year’s winners were:

Isaiah BaileyA graduate of Living Word Academy in the Valley section of Syracuse, Isaiah volunteered at Crouse for three years and contributed over 350 hours. Isaiah began studies in the pre-med program at Le Moyne College this fall.

Yuri Bychkov

A Fayetteville-Manlius High School grad, Yuri was a four-year volunteer with more than 340 hours of service. He is now attending the University of Buffalo and hopes to be a surgeon.

Justin QuagliaAnother four-year volunteer, Justin worked more than 270 hours at Crouse. He is a freshman at the University of Buffalo, but intends to transfer into the Albany College of Pharmacy. Justin is a graduate of Fayetteville-Manlius High School.

Tori RiccelliWith more than 200 hours dedicated to Crouse, Tori has been a Crouse Junior Volunteer for two years, logging 200 hours of sefrvice. A graduate of Faith Heritage, she attends Cornell University with the hope of one day being a doctor.

Cindy ShehatouAnother two-year volunteer, Shehatou, a graduate of Manlius Pebble Hill School, contributed nearly 300 hours in that short period of time. Cindy is a freshman at the University of Rochester and plans to continue on in medical school.

“Each year the selection process becomes more and more difficult as our scholarship applicants represent a cross-section of an excellent volunteers,” says Richard Scott, who coordinates the Choices and Junior Volunteer programs. Sixteen volunteers submitted applications, with 10 being selected for a 30-minute interview, which determined the 2012 winners. The criteria for the scholarships include number of years of service to Crouse; hours worked; quality and dedication of service; academic qualifications, personal essays and three references.

Scholarship winners from the previous two years were Christian Brothers Academy graduate Kaitlin McIntyre, who attends the University of Texas; Connor Bennett from Bishop Grimes, a junior at the University of Buffalo; Allison Berson, a Jamesville-Dewitt grad who is a sophomore at SUNY Oswego; Michelle Dallalah, a Jamesville-Dewitt grad attending Stanford University; and Antoinette Esce, from Liverpool High School, a sophomore at the University of Rochester.

Proceeds from Crouse’s Choices program fund the Junior Volunteer Scholarship program. Choices is a program that offers high schools students between 14 and 18 years of age the opportunity to attend monthly forums featuring medical professionals who discuss their specialties and take questions. Choices runs from October through April each school year.

For information about the Junior Volunteer or Choices programs, please call or email Program Coordinator Dick Scott at 315/470-2757 or talk to your high school guidance counselor.